Louisa Wall: Gay Marriage debate to divide Grandparents and Grandchildren, should really ask if pornography is the main divider

The Labour MP behind the bid to legalise gay marriage expects the debate to divide grandparents and grandchildren.

With Labour MP Louisa Wall's Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill tipped for a final reading in May, same-sex marriage could be passed into law next year.

Ms Wall said the bill was a "talking point" with the potential to split families this summer.

"For me, it's an issue like the Springbok tour: you're either for it, or against it. I'm happy for it to be one of the topics of holiday conversation."

She said debate over marriage equality reflected a "generational issue", with pensioners proving to be the minority in opposition.

Oh, she wishes. Plenty of women my age (mid-40's) that I know are against it as well.

A recent Dominion Post readers' survey also reflected the divisiveness of the issue.

Of the 613 readers polled from December 13 to 20, 35 per cent identified themselves as being in support of same-sex marriage, while a further 35 per cent were against it.

Looks like pro and con are equal.

Just under a quarter described themselves as "neutral" on the subject, while a further 6 per cent had no opinion.

And neutrals are a large percentage as well. Seems to me, that in the Dominion Post at least, those that are for redefining marriage are in the minority,.

It's a typical propaganda technique to claim that you have the majority, and that is what Louisa Wall is doing by claiming that pensioners are the "minority in opposition".

Those in opposition were much more vocal than those in favour. Fewer than a quarter of the 176 respondents who took the optional opportunity to expand on their opinions spoke out in favour of marriage equality.

Which means that those against have more of an idea why they are against it, as opposed to the crowd followers who just want to be in with the current social advancements.

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Then there's the influence of porn, as to how likely you are to be supportive of gay marriage. The verdict is, the more often you view porn, the more likely you are to be pro-gay marriage. Oh, I would love Louisa Wall to come out and say that there is a porn divide in New Zealand, with heavy porn users more likely to be on the side of the redefinition of marriage.

Data from the New Family Structures Study reveal that when young adult Americans (ages 23-39) are asked about their level of agreement with the statement “It should be legal for gays and lesbians to marry in America,” the gender difference emerges, just as expected: 42 percent of men agreed or strongly agreed, compared with 47 percent of women of the same age. More men than women disagreed or strongly disagreed (37 versus 30 percent), while comparable levels (21-23 percent) said they were “unsure.”

But of the men who view pornographic material “every day or almost every day,” 54 percent “strongly agreed” that gay and lesbian marriage should be legal, compared with around 13 percent of those whose porn-use patterns were either monthly or less often than that. Statistical tests confirmed that porn use is a (very) significant predictor of men’s support for same-sex marriage, even after controlling for other obvious factors that might influence one’s perspective, such as political affiliation, religiosity, marital status, age, education, and sexual orientation.

The same pattern emerges for the statement, “Gay and lesbian couples do just as good a job raising children as heterosexual couples.” Only 26 percent of the lightest porn users concurred, compared to 63 percent of the heaviest consumers. It’s a linear association for men: the more porn they consume, the more they affirm this statement. More rigorous statistical tests confirmed that this association too is a very robust one.

Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Porn is made by men for men, so those who look at it are going to be influenced by a male sex mindset, which involves a lot of gay sex with women as props (See Pornography - On purpose laid to make the taker mad.

Pornography is “homo” sex—that is it’s sex made by men to arouse men and boys. Pornography causes boys to have sex with themselves, psychopharmacologically conditioning them early to male sexual touch. Pornography claims our sisters, daughters, even our moms are nonhuman animals.

Related links: Gay marriage debate likely to split families ~ Dominion Post
Does porn use affect attitude to same-sex marriage? ~ Bob McCoskrie's Blog